Film festival for MPs inaugurated

New Delhi, Apr 30 (UNI) A festival of National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) films for Members of Parliament was inaugurated here today by Minister of Information and Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi.

During the festival, eight prominent NFDC films in different languages will be screened.

The event opened with the screening of the film 'Gandhi' (English), directed by Richard Attenborough.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Dasmunsi said the NFDC was being strengthened to play its role as a support base for good cinema. In the past, several film directors got a new lease of life in the career through the support of NFDC and came out with memorable films, he added.

The other films included in the festival are: 'Agantuk' (Bengali), directed by Satyajit Ray, 'Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron' (Hindi), directed by Kundan Shah, 'Swara Mandal' (Hindi), directed by Rajan Khosa, 'Antarjali Yatra' (Bengali), directed by Goutam Ghose, 'Marupakkam' (Tamil), directed by K. S. Sethu Madhavan, 'Shree 420' (Hindi) directed by Raj Kapoor and 'Mangamma' (Malayalam), directed T. V. Chandran.

The screening will continue up to May 18.

Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Asha Swarup in her remarks said that NFDC was the biggest production house with over 300 films in 15 different Indian languages to its credit.

It also has a film co-production agreement with 50 international organisations, she said. Members of Parliament from across the political spectrum, besides some members of the cast and crew of the inaugural film were also present.

UNI